The Soy Milk Conclusion
by SergeantFuzzyBoots
Summary: Leonard and Penny discuss marriage, one of their view points having changed since 6.16. In response to Lenny Week's day three prompt "Marriage".


**Day three of Lenny Week! The prompt is "Marriage", so here's what I've got for it. I'm kind of worried it gets maybe too sappy, but, eh, I'm sure these two are allotted a few sappy moments each year. Hope you guys enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

"Hey, babe," Penny said upon entering 4B, tossing her purse off to the side where it landed on the chair next to the door.

Leonard was sat on the couch, a pencil and notepad in hand. He placed them on the coffee table when he turned to smile over at her. "Hey," he said. "Have fun with the girls?"

Penny nodded, making her way over to the fridge to grab a water bottle. "It was pretty fun. We crossed off another item on Amy's childhood bucket list." Having had no real friends for the majority of her youth, the neurobiologist had drawn up a list of activities she wished to participate in now that she had her two besties. "We played laser tag."

The blonde grinned when Leonard's eyebrows shot up. "You guys went to play laser tag?" he asked. "Without us?"

"What? We're not allowed to do geeky things without our nerdy men chaperoning us?" she said teasingly.

"Well ..." Leonard shrugged sheepishly. "Well, yeah."

"We'll be sure to keep that in mind for next time," she said, plunking down next to him. She would also be sure to text Amy and Bernadette about Leonard's reaction, each having been excited about what their significant others would think about their day's activity. The three had agreed that Amy would have it hardest when it came to the big reveal. The neurobiologist was eagerly anticipating it, though, believing it would ultimately result in the two adding another date night reserved for laser tag to the Relationship Agreement.

Penny took a long drink from her water bottle, tipping her head back slightly and not noticing the smile Leonard was giving her until she removed her lips from the plastic container. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing, just ..." His smile widened and he glanced down at his shoes momentarily before lifting his gaze again. "In exactly one month we'll have been married for a whole year."

"Trying to make sure I don't forget our anniversary?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, no," he said quickly, causing Penny to giggle; he was so adorable when he got flustered. "I was just thinking about it today and, you know, it's just ... kind of hard to believe."

Penny finally returned the smile he'd been giving her as she let Leonard's words sink in more. "Yeah, it is," she agreed, leaning into him.

"Has it been as scary as you thought it'd be?" He was teasing, but Penny caught the hint of genuine curiosity in his tone.

"No, it's been great," she answered honestly. She let her head tip down to his shoulder. "Probably because things have been going so well between us and I've been really happy."

Leonard grinned. "Even when we had fights?"

It actually took Penny a moment to recall the specifics of the few fights they'd had in the past year. Some had been worse than others, but none had exceeded twenty-four hours if she remembered correctly. Now married and living together, they were quite literally each other's home; it made the desire to resolve their issues and talk through any problems they were having that much stronger, neither wanting to return home from work and argue or go to bed mad at each other. The disagreements themselves didn't even seem that big, thinking them over. Just bumps in the road. Some actually seemed silly, like ...

Penny grinned when she realized which incident Leonard was referencing by bringing up their past arguments. "I still don't like that Joker bust."

Her husband chuckled. "Well, it's not going anywhere."

"Aw," she said, patting his chest. "It's cute that you think that."

Leonard simply slid an arm around his wife, knowing from the original argument that now was the time to bow out. "Well, I'm glad you've been happy," he said.

"Yeah, well, it's because of you."

That surprised him a little. Obviously he'd had to have been doing a few things right as a husband for her to be happy, but still, he felt that she was getting at more than that. "Me?"

Penny sat up, repositioning so she could face him. "Ever since you said I could be the one to propose, you've never pressured me about things," she explained. "You've always waited until I was ready. For living together, getting engaged, married. And now we _are_ married and I'm so happy and ..." she bit her lip and blinked hard a few times. "Only you could have done that for me. For us."

She pressed her lips to his before he could respond, remaining firmly against him for a good five Mississippi's.

"I wouldn't have wanted to do it for anyone else but you," he told her as soon as he was free to speak again. They smiled at each other. "For us."

"Good." She kissed him quickly again before resting back against his chest. Their left hands laced together and the two stared down at their matching weddings rings and engagement rings – one of the unanticipated perks of having Penny propose: they both got engagement rings.

Penny sighed, smiling. "Marriage has made us such saps."

Leonard laughed, tugging her in closer to him. "According to you and Sheldon, I was already a sap because of my soy milk."

"Well, now that we're living together, it's always in my fridge, so maybe it is just the milk."

He kissed her forehead. "Let's go with that."

"_And then we're gonna be married forever and the whole thing just freaks me out."_

Penny's eyes flickered around the apartment, temporarily resting on the various photos of their wedding on display, a piece of mail on the coffee table that had the words "Mrs. Penny Hofstadter" on it; every item in the room that indicated they were living together, and then finally returned to their interlocked fingers and the rings that adorned them. She'd been afraid of all of these things, of seeing them, of having them; she'd been afraid of what they represented. But now the only thing that freaked her out, that created that much panic in her, was the idea of not having all this – of them not being married forever.


End file.
